.177 Taipan Veteran Accuracy Testing

[UCChris]

Okay, I got the barrel cleaned on the Taipan and put about 100 shots through it yesterday. I did some accuracy testing and a full shot string this morning. All groups are 5 shot groups at 33 yards, off of a tripod w/gun vise and rear bag.

Right click on all pictures and open in new tab for a better size.

First a picture of my shooting setup:



 I started with the shroud off and with the gun around 160ish bar. After the first two groups, I refilled the gun to 240 bar and resumed shooting.



So that's weird, right? Two groups, after the gun has been sitting overnight and those are the best two groups this gun has shot since I got it. Then I go to refill and the groups are massive in comparison? So I hung another target paper and put the shroud on. Here are the next six groups. Four were shot right after hanging the new target and putting on the shroud, maybe 3-5 minutes after finishing the previous groups. Just for curiosity's sake, I stopped after four shrouded groups and went and refilled the gun to 240 bar. The last two groups are after the refill.



Some weird stringing on the first one and a decent group on the second one. I don't think the refill affected the groups as much as the unshrouded group, but only the second and, sort of, the third group match the first groups of the day, before any refills. At this point, I was running out of time, so I had to shoot a string. I refilled the gun to 260 bar (accidentally overfilled a bit) and got to shooting a string.



Shots 90-91 declined very quickly, so this hammer setting is apparently on the plateau for this particular regulator setting, even though I backed out the HS adjustment ~4 full turns from the factory setting. The Veteran Compact only has a 350mm barrel (13.77") so I would imagine that it has to be run a bit hot on the hammer spring to get the 17ish FPE that I'm getting. I'm happy with that string, more or less. I would hope that the regulator isn't quite broken in and that it will settle somewhere around 2% ES. Unfortunately, it would  appear that regulator creep is not responsible for the groups opening up after the fill.

So, overall, things are acceptable. Maybe I expect too much from a $1400 gun vs the sub-$500 airguns I've owned previously, but I would expect better accuracy than this and a bit tighter spread. That being said, I understand I've only tried two types of pellets in the gun so far, the gun is shooting tighter than it was out of the box, and mechanical things such as our airguns require break-in, regardless of how nicely they are machined or the price tag.

I'm gonna shoot another 500 shots and run the same test and see where we're at. I would love your thoughts!

[rumbleUU]

I know this is fine made barrel but how is the crown and lead in look, also did you check important bolts and grubscrews

[Dairyboy]

Are those the only pellets you've tried? The day they moved production to CZ I was afraid the guns wouldn't be as good due to the LW barrels instead of the CZs. Hope this isn't the case!

[elh0102]

I assume you are shooting your groups using single shot tray, not magazine? I have a new Veteran Standard in .22. It is shooting very well, but it definitely shoots better in single shot mode, which I have found is common with most magazine rifles. I have found the Veteran a lot of fun, but a bit of an oddity too. When shooting in the yard, I'm sitting on my deck step, and using shooting sticks. In that manner, I shoot my FX Royale, Red Wolf, and RAW considerably better than the Veteran. But part of that is me, because I find the other rifles easier to shoot, just something about the way the Vet fits in the stix is more challenging for me to handle. But that's on me. At the range yesterday, I shot the Vet from the bench using a bipod. It was windy, so I limited my shooting to 25-30 yards. From the bench and with the bipod, I shot some tiny one-hole groups using the s/s tray, and acceptable hunting groups with the magazine. A couple of the magazine groups were very small too, but I did get the occasional flyer with the magazine, which I have experienced with most magazine rifles. In fact, the only rifle I own, or have ever owned, that shoots fully as well with the magazine is the Royale 400. All my other rifles have better triggers than the FX, but it loves the mag, which makes it a great hunting rifle. It's a platform FX should have embraced and improved, rather than going down the road of all the super-adjustable stuff. But again, that's just me.

[UCChris]

I know this is fine made barrel but how is the crown and lead in look, also did you check important bolts and grubscrews

Crown looks good to me, lead looks good but it's hard to get a good look. I will ask my boss to bring his borescope to work on Monday. I did tighten down every external screw upon purchasing the rifle.

Are those the only pellets you've tried? The day they moved production to CZ I was afraid the guns wouldn't be as good due to the LW barrels instead of the CZs. Hope this isn't the case!

I have tried JSB 10.34 and 8.44. 8.44 might be a hair more accurate, but it's kinda a tossup. I also did try Nielsen 15.5 slugs, but those shot 200 fps slower than the 10.34 pellet and grouped about 3/4" at 33 yards.

I assume you are shooting your groups using single shot tray, not magazine? I have a new Veteran Standard in .22. It is shooting very well, but it definitely shoots better in single shot mode, which I have found is common with most magazine rifles. I have found the Veteran a lot of fun, but a bit of an oddity too. When shooting in the yard, I'm sitting on my deck step, and using shooting sticks. In that manner, I shoot my FX Royale, Red Wolf, and RAW considerably better than the Veteran. But part of that is me, because I find the other rifles easier to shoot, just something about the way the Vet fits in the stix is more challenging for me to handle. But that's on me. At the range yesterday, I shot the Vet from the bench using a bipod. It was windy, so I limited my shooting to 25-30 yards. From the bench and with the bipod, I shot some tiny one-hole groups using the s/s tray, and acceptable hunting groups with the magazine. A couple of the magazine groups were very small too, but I did get the occasional flyer with the magazine, which I have experienced with most magazine rifles. In fact, the only rifle I own, or have ever owned, that shoots fully as well with the magazine is the Royale 400. All my other rifles have better triggers than the FX, but it loves the mag, which makes it a great hunting rifle. It's a platform FX should have embraced and improved, rather than going down the road of all the super-adjustable stuff. But again, that's just me.

Interesting, this is all with magazines. I will try it with the single shot tray on Monday, but I honestly hope it shoots the same, because I would hate to want to use the magazines while hunting and not be choosing the most accurate option.

[elh0102]

Interesting, this is all with magazines. I will try it with the single shot tray on Monday, but I honestly hope it shoots the same, because I would hate to want to use the magazines while hunting and not be choosing the most accurate option.

It will almost for sure shoot better with the s/s tray. That's not to say the magazine accuracy will not be acceptable for hunting, although your current groups are not, too much room for missed or crippled squirrels. At your 33 yard range, it should be shooting small, one-hole groups under good conditions.

[UCChris]

Interesting, this is all with magazines. I will try it with the single shot tray on Monday, but I honestly hope it shoots the same, because I would hate to want to use the magazines while hunting and not be choosing the most accurate option.

It will almost for sure shoot better with the s/s tray. That's not to say the magazine accuracy will not be acceptable for hunting, although your current groups are not, too much room for missed or crippled squirrels. At your 33 yard range, it should be shooting small, one-hole groups under good conditions.

K, so I'm not crazy for expecting one tiny hole. Good.

[anti-squirrel]

Chris, try RWS Superdomes.  My CZ-634 loves RWS pellets.  Yeah, springer versus PCP, but CZ

[oldpro]

Chris, try RWS Superdomes.  My CZ-634 loves RWS pellets.  Yeah, springer versus PCP, but CZ

He doesnt have a CZ barrel its a LW and they are pellet picky

[UCChris]

Chris, try RWS Superdomes.  My CZ-634 loves RWS pellets.  Yeah, springer versus PCP, but CZ

He doesnt have a CZ barrel its a LW and they are pellet picky

This. Guess I'll get some pellet samplers ordered.

[anti-squirrel]

Waaaah?

I missed that somewhere along the way.  This threw me for a curve.

Are those the only pellets you've tried? The day they moved production to CZ I was afraid the guns wouldn't be as good due to the LW barrels instead of the CZs. Hope this isn't the case!

If they moved production to CZ, why would they use an LW barrel?

[Dbez1]

FWIW, I have a Ukrainian made TVLong with CZ barrel and it’s very accurate with or without the magazine. One red flag...you said you took the shroud off but did you mark where the grub screw at the back of it was initially so you know how much to tighten it?  I believe that the tightness of the shroud acts like a tuner on my rifle. (Barrel harmonics). I would suggest that, once you find the best pellet, try changing the tightness of the shroud until you get your best groups. I’m unsure whether this matters on all TV’s though and maybe it’s all just my imagination 🤔.  Maybe some of our professional tuners will weigh in on this for you.

[Motorhead]

Should made NO difference.  barrels muzzle is threaded and the rearmost end cap of LDC free floats around barrel NOT coming up against scope tower. So tighter or looser at the at the muzzles end having no change on tension what so ever.  Once tight securing the grub screw simply prevents further rotation / unscrewing.

[UCChris]

Should made NO difference.  barrels muzzle is threaded and the rearmost end cap of LDC free floats around barrel NOT coming up against scope tower. So tighter or looser at the at the muzzles end having no change on tension what so ever.  Once tight securing the grub screw simply prevents further rotation / unscrewing.

Scott is correct however, I did make sure it lined up the same.

Scott, I'm going to run the same grouping test with the 8.44 on Monday. If the results are the same, I may run over to Utah Airguns and get some of the old style 13.43 (they don't have the redesigned). If none of that works, I'd like to discuss sending it to you, if you think you might have any ideas.

While cleaning the barrel, I noticed it feels as if it is perfect as far as the same pressure to pull the patch until the last inch or so, at which point it chokes down very smoothly.

[elh0102]

Scott is certainly capable, and I'm not trying to dissuade you from sending it to him. But, before sending off, I would clean the barrel again, and this time by removing and scrubbing with a brush. Your groups appear to deteriorate quickly after cleaning, which could mean a hard fouled spot that a pull-through will not remove. It could also be a small machining burr that can be polished, perhaps even by hand with Flitz and a tight patch. I've had good luck by using Flitz on a patch that is wrapped around a brush. Neither the cleaning nor Flitz polishing will do any harm, and it might do the trick. But to be honest, I've had a couple of barrels during the last year that behaved similar, and both were bad barrels that were replaced. If that is your situation, Scott can likely see the issue quickly with a scope exam. 

[Tonykarter]

If they moved production to CZ, why would they use an LW barrel?

  Yeah, I was incredulous about this too.  Remember though, it was only the .22 that got the CZ barrels.  I remember reading something on the other forum about the factory .177 retrofit kits...I can't remember if they were based on a CZ barrel or some other barrel.

Chris, I know you checked this but I have to ask...is the barrel screwed tight into the receiver?  Also may want try a different scope next.  Just to vet the scope.  Also consider trying a different bench and benchrest setup.  It could be anything.

How far is it to the seller?  If its not that far go over and shoot it on their setup.  If they cannot pin it down then send it to Scott.  I guarantee you when you get it back it will put a smile on your face.

[miksatx]

The .177 kits didn't have barrels only 2 mags, ssa, hammer spring and theses replacement part. I bought a air arms cz200 barrel  from PA to do mine.

[RDB]

I've had good luck by using Flitz on a patch that is wrapped around a brush. Neither the cleaning nor Flitz polishing will do any harm, and it might do the trick.

Good advice. Weather new to me or fresh from the factory. I always do a polishing. Never hurts and most times helps. At the very least, it extends the time between cleanings.

[UCChris]

I may have found what is happening. I loosened the eight screws that clamp the barrel in preparation to remove the barrel to check the lead. I ended up not having a thin enough 13mm wrench, so I'll have to grind one down tomorrow at work. But, when tightening the screws back down, I decided to just snug them up and not crank them down like I did out of the box. I then shot a group at 30 yards. My front rest was a bag of flour and I had to rear rest, so this certainly was not ideal shooting conditions. Same US dime OD/.177 pellet ID target as what I used earlier.



That's six shots. Four in the middle tiny hole, one to the left, and I pulled the one that went slightly right. Off of not good rest. I will be running a full six groups tomorrow morning with my bend setup to see if it will continue to hole that small of a group.

[nervoustrigger]

Yeah that's more like it.  Hopefully that will hold up with subsequent groups.  For what it's worth, I usually tinker around with the fit of barrel bands, shrouds and baffles, and tightness of the stock retention bolt (if relevant).  Usually there will be an arrangement that favors harmonics to produce tighter groups.